Forget Mike, I Want To Be Like Tonk

Tonight I was watching David Letterman and he interviewed Erin Bolster who is a professional horse wrangler and she told an amazing story about how she and her horse Tonk saved a young boy from a 750 pound grizzly bear. The story is absolutely amazing and Tonk is my new hero. Why is a horse my new hero? Because he faced his greatest fear and kept on charging.

We can learn a lot from Tonk. Sometimes life throws at us something so big, so out of our control, all we want to do is retreat like the other horses did and head back to camp, to what is familiar and safe. But, if we are to do something extraordinary, if we are to overcome, we must face our greatest fears, fight our instinct to run and charge forward.

I can't imagine how much that horse did not want to do what his Master was telling him to do. But, against all that he knew from all his past experiences, beyond what his natural instinct was telling him to do, beyond what every cell in his body screamed at him to do, he chose to trust his Master.

I'm afraid right now of so many things. Afraid to fail. Afraid I'll never make my goals. Afraid I will re-gain all the weight. Afraid the future will not be as bright as I always hope it will be. Sometimes I just want to retreat and run back to camp, where I know I'll be safe and I won't have to face something that just wants to eat me alive. But I need to be brave. I need to be courageous. I need to not listen to that instinct telling me to "Run!". I need to trust my Master. I need to risk it all to safe a life.

My life.

I want to be like Tonk.